Two O’Clock Courage *** (1945, Tom Conway, Ann Rutherford, Richard Lane, Jane Greer) – Classic Movie Review 13,507

An amnesiac is suspected of murder in Anthony Mann’s 1945 RKO black and white film noir Two O’Clock Courage starring Tom Conway, Ann Rutherford, and Richard Lane.

Director Anthony Mann’s 1945 RKO black and white American film noir Two O’Clock Courage is scripted by Robert E Kent, based on the 1934 novel by Gelett Burgess, and stars Tom Conway, Ann Rutherford, and Richard Lane.

Tom Conway plays a man who wakes up confused and with a gash on his head after being slugged only to find out that he is suffering from amnesia and is a number one murder suspect. He stumbles into the taxi cab of Patty Mitchell (Ann Rutherford ) and tells her that he can remember nothing. Luckily, the lovely, adoring taxi-driver Patty and a gun shot eventually stun him into remembrance.

Two O’Clock Courage is a rather run-of-the-mill film noir, a rejig of 1936’s Two in the Dark, but the pleasant, appealing performances of the nice cast and Anthony Mann’s acute, attentive direction keep it interesting, sometimes even quite fascinating.

It is Jane Greer’s début (as Bettejane Greer), playing Helen Carter. It is the final film of Roland Drew, playing Steve Maitland.

Also in the cast are Roland Drew, Emory Parnell, Lester Matthews, Jean Brooks, Edmund Glover, Bryant Washburn, Phillip Morris, Nancy Marlow, Jack Norton, Chester Clute, Charles Wilson, and Sarah Edwards.

The 1936 American mystery film Two in the Dark stars Walter Abel, Margot Grahame, Wallace Ford, Gail Patrick, and Alan Hale. and is directed by Benjamin Stoloff, who produces this remake.

Filming started August 1944 and it was released in the US by RKO Pictures on April 13, 1945.

Tom Conway took over from his brother George Sanders as the amateur detective The Falcon in The Falcon’s Brother (1942) and RKO signed him to a long-term contract.

Patty’s taxi is a 1936 DeSoto S-1 Airstream Custom Sedan.

It is Anthony Mann’s first film as director at RKO, going on to make the musical Sing Your Way Home (1945) before returning to Republic Studios to make Strange Impersonation (1946).

Tom Conway had previously made another wartime murder mysteries starring in which he is aided by a female taxicab driver: The Falcon in Hollywood (1944). Emory Parnell and Jean Brooks also appear in both films. With men away at war, women were driving taxis in World War Two.

Two O’Clock Courage is directed by Anthony Mann, runs 66 minutes, is made and released by RKO Pictures, is written by Robert E Kent, is shot in black and white by Jack Mackenziem is produced by Ben Stoloff, is scored by Roy Webb, and is designed by Darrell Silvers and William Stevens.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,507

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